So of course we all know about Girard-Perregaux, and I suspect that most of us know about Le Corbusier. Apart from both being Swiss, artistic and innovative, what's the connection?
Well, last March when I visited Girard-Perregaux my guide pointed this out to me on our walking tour, just around the corner.
Designed by the man himself - and not a straight line in it, but would you want it any other way?
So I was very happy to hear about Girard-Perregaux's latest offerings -
These three pieces make up the Le Corbusier Trilogy of Time.
Here are the details straight from La Chaux-de-Fonds - the hometown of Le Corbusier.
So I was very happy to hear about Girard-Perregaux's latest offerings -
These three pieces make up the Le Corbusier Trilogy of Time.
Here are the details straight from La Chaux-de-Fonds - the hometown of Le Corbusier.
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| Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux |
VINTAGE 1945 LE CORBUSIER
LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS
In a marvelous coincidence, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret’s hometown, La Chaux-de-Fonds, happens to be the world capital of watchmaking. Before the world knew him by his pseudonym, Le Corbusier, the young Charles- Edouard spent his formative years in the town’s School of Art, training as a sculptor and engraver.
INLAID MOTHER-OF-PEARL DIAL
Girard-Perregaux’s craftsmen pay tribute to an early Le Corbusier work by faithfully reproducing it in a bas-relief of mother-of-pearl — a nod to both the piece itself and to Le Corbusier’s beginnings as a sculptor and engraver.
Seven exacting days are required to produce each dial, requiring mastery of multiple skills: design, sculpture, polishing and varnishing. The foremost challenge was to preserve the integrity of the original work’s five colors — necessitating considerable patience and meticulous attention to detail.
LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS
In a marvelous coincidence, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret’s hometown, La Chaux-de-Fonds, happens to be the world capital of watchmaking. Before the world knew him by his pseudonym, Le Corbusier, the young Charles- Edouard spent his formative years in the town’s School of Art, training as a sculptor and engraver.
INLAID MOTHER-OF-PEARL DIAL
Girard-Perregaux’s craftsmen pay tribute to an early Le Corbusier work by faithfully reproducing it in a bas-relief of mother-of-pearl — a nod to both the piece itself and to Le Corbusier’s beginnings as a sculptor and engraver.
Seven exacting days are required to produce each dial, requiring mastery of multiple skills: design, sculpture, polishing and varnishing. The foremost challenge was to preserve the integrity of the original work’s five colors — necessitating considerable patience and meticulous attention to detail.
CASE
Material: Pink gold
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic
Material: Pink gold
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic
Calibre : 111⁄2 ‘‘‘
Frequency : 28,800
Jewels : 26
Power reserve: Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-52-103-BB6A
Frequency : 28,800
Jewels : 26
Power reserve: Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-52-103-BB6A
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| Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux |
VINTAGE 1945 LE CORBUSIER — PARIS
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret arrived in Paris in 1917. Three years later, he assumed the nom d’artiste “Le Corbusier.” His timing was propitious; Paris was becoming the global center of the cultural movement known as ‘Modernism’, and Le Corbusier’s painting and architecture alike embraced it, emphasizing elemental geometric forms — “space and light and order,” as he put it.
Although he’s now celebrated along with Mies Van der Rohe or Walter Gropius as a pioneer of modern architecture, Le Corbusier applied his theories about shape to the decorative arts as well. In 1929, along with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier debuted Le Grand Confort at Paris’s Salon d’Automne. Among the pieces shown was his iconic furniture, constructed from a then-unique combination of steel, tanned leather and rawhide.
METAL DIAL
The second limited edition Girard-Perregaux timepiece in this series commemorates Le Corbusier’s contributions to the decorative arts by focusing on materials — pairing a steel case with a cowhide strap to evoke the Le Corbusier chaise longue. The hand-engraved dial reflects his Modulor system of architectural proportion, based on the male figure (human scale) and the “Golden Ratio,” as well as his applied perception of light.
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret arrived in Paris in 1917. Three years later, he assumed the nom d’artiste “Le Corbusier.” His timing was propitious; Paris was becoming the global center of the cultural movement known as ‘Modernism’, and Le Corbusier’s painting and architecture alike embraced it, emphasizing elemental geometric forms — “space and light and order,” as he put it.
Although he’s now celebrated along with Mies Van der Rohe or Walter Gropius as a pioneer of modern architecture, Le Corbusier applied his theories about shape to the decorative arts as well. In 1929, along with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier debuted Le Grand Confort at Paris’s Salon d’Automne. Among the pieces shown was his iconic furniture, constructed from a then-unique combination of steel, tanned leather and rawhide.
METAL DIAL
The second limited edition Girard-Perregaux timepiece in this series commemorates Le Corbusier’s contributions to the decorative arts by focusing on materials — pairing a steel case with a cowhide strap to evoke the Le Corbusier chaise longue. The hand-engraved dial reflects his Modulor system of architectural proportion, based on the male figure (human scale) and the “Golden Ratio,” as well as his applied perception of light.
CASE
Material: Steel
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal : Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic Calibre : 111⁄2 ‘‘‘
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz) Jewels : 26
Power reserve : Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-11-102-HKBA
Material: Steel
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal : Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic Calibre : 111⁄2 ‘‘‘
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz) Jewels : 26
Power reserve : Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-11-102-HKBA
 |
| Courtesy of Girard-Perregaux |
VINTAGE 1945 LE CORBUSIER — MARSEILLE
Arguably Le Corbusier’s most important late work — and certainly his first significant postwar structure — is the Cité Radieuse (“Radiant City”), an unité d’habitation (“Housing Unit”) in Marseille, France. Although it was conceptualized earlier, the Marseille building was built from rough-cast reinforced concrete (steel and concrete) — a signature Le Corbusier material — between 1947 and 1952 to help alleviate a severe housing shortage at that time. The colossal 12-story complex accommodates some 1,600 residents and was the inspiration for several similar unités d’habitation throughout France, as well as in Berlin — all designed by Le Corbusier and given the same utilitarian name. The unité d’habitation was a prime example of the Modulor philosophy — and the design and proportions of the Marseille watch dial are an homage to the Modulor anthropometric scale.
CONCRETE DIAL
We end, appropriately, where we began: with careful attention to raw materials — in this instance, concrete — that become stirring works of art. For this last component of the Le Corbusier Trilogy, Girard-Perregaux developed a concrete dial requiring three days to pour, dry and meticulously hand-finish. Concrete is an exceptionally uncommon material in watchmaking now, as it was in construction when Le Corbusier used it to build Cité Radieuse. The result is an unparalleled interpretation of Le Corbusier : a seamless blend of watchmaking and architecture.
Arguably Le Corbusier’s most important late work — and certainly his first significant postwar structure — is the Cité Radieuse (“Radiant City”), an unité d’habitation (“Housing Unit”) in Marseille, France. Although it was conceptualized earlier, the Marseille building was built from rough-cast reinforced concrete (steel and concrete) — a signature Le Corbusier material — between 1947 and 1952 to help alleviate a severe housing shortage at that time. The colossal 12-story complex accommodates some 1,600 residents and was the inspiration for several similar unités d’habitation throughout France, as well as in Berlin — all designed by Le Corbusier and given the same utilitarian name. The unité d’habitation was a prime example of the Modulor philosophy — and the design and proportions of the Marseille watch dial are an homage to the Modulor anthropometric scale.
CONCRETE DIAL
We end, appropriately, where we began: with careful attention to raw materials — in this instance, concrete — that become stirring works of art. For this last component of the Le Corbusier Trilogy, Girard-Perregaux developed a concrete dial requiring three days to pour, dry and meticulously hand-finish. Concrete is an exceptionally uncommon material in watchmaking now, as it was in construction when Le Corbusier used it to build Cité Radieuse. The result is an unparalleled interpretation of Le Corbusier : a seamless blend of watchmaking and architecture.
CASE
Material: Steel
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Movement : Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic Calibre: 111⁄2‘‘‘
Frequency : 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz)
Jewels : 26
Power reserve : Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-11-101-BB6A
Material: Steel
Dimensions: 36.20 x 35.25 mm
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by four screws Water resistance: 30 meters
MOVEMENT
Movement : Girard-Perregaux GP3300-0078, automatic Calibre: 111⁄2‘‘‘
Frequency : 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz)
Jewels : 26
Power reserve : Min. 46 hours Functions : Hour and minute
Limited edition of five pieces Reference : 25880-11-101-BB6A
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